“Global packaged food and beverage companies are searching for the next frontier of growth.” According to a report by Bloomberg, as regulatory scrutiny and public health awareness increase in Western countries, producers and sellers of ultra-processed foods—often labeled as “junk food”—are shifting their focus to developing nations where public health awareness is relatively low. Countries like India, Indonesia, and Mexico have taken note of this issue and begun to respond. The worsening “junk food crisis” in these countries is driven not only by the expansion of Western fast food and packaged snack industries but also by factors such as significant income inequality and poor dietary habits within the countries themselves. Notably, as food-related issues attract growing public attention, they are increasingly becoming topics of political debate. Some American scholars argue that food issues are being used as a propaganda tool, sometimes even pushing political agendas that run counter to public expectations.
Western Market Setbacks Lead to Expansion in Developing Countries
“The $30 billion market gap in the junk food industry is fueling India’s next health crisis,” Bloomberg reports. In populous emerging economies like India, ultra-processed foods are still relatively new, cutting-edge weight-loss drugs are less accessible, and there are few marketing restrictions targeting children. As a result, global packaged food and beverage companies, facing setbacks in Western markets, are expanding into developing countries where public health awareness remains low.
It has been observed that one of the most common social scenes among urban children in India today is celebrating birthdays at fast food restaurants. At these parties, children exchange gifts while eagerly consuming burgers, fries, pizza, cake, drinking cola, and playing games. Indian primary school students typically face minimal academic pressure and are in a socially active stage, making it common to attend several birthday parties each month. This habit of consuming high-calorie, high-sugar, high-salt, and deep-fried foods tends to persist over time.
In contrast, when the reporter spoke with Indian friends in their 40s and 50s about their childhood birthday memories, they all recounted a similar experience: fast food didn’t exist in India at the time. On their birthdays, parents would cook a few extra vegetarian dishes at home, decorate the room with balloons, and invite friends over to celebrate.
“Junk food is everywhere in teenagers’ lives, and it’s making us less healthy,” UNICEF once highlighted in a published article. A global study jointly released by The Lancet medical journal and the World Health Organization shows that from 1990 to 2022, the global obesity rate among children and adolescents increased fivefold. Numerous studies have shown that consuming large amounts of ultra-processed foods significantly increases the risk of chronic diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease, ultimately harming overall health and shortening life expectancy.
Many countries have recognized this issue and begun to take action. On the streets of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, fast food chains are among the most common restaurants, while roadside stalls offer a wide variety of traditional fried snacks, and supermarket shelves are filled with numerous instant noodle brands. For many young people, fast, cheap, and strongly flavored food seems to have become the default choice. A study published in November last year revealed a significant shift in Indonesia’s dietary structure: nationwide, consumption of wheat, chicken, fish, sugary beverages, and ultra-processed foods continues to rise, while the intake of leafy vegetables and fresh legumes is steadily decreasing. This dietary decline is most pronounced in urban areas, where food diversity is also shrinking.
According to Indonesia’s Kompas newspaper, an increasing number of adolescents are becoming obese due to excessive consumption of junk food. Contributing factors include overwhelming food advertising on TV and social media, along with the government’s relatively slow response in promoting healthy eating. Cheap and easily accessible instant noodles and fried foods have further worsened the situation.
To address these problems, the Indonesian Ministry of Health has issued regulations requiring food packaging to clearly label sugar, salt, and fat content, along with daily intake recommendations. In 2021, the Indonesian Food and Drug Authority introduced a “healthier choice” green label to help consumers identify more nutritious options. At the same time, the government has strengthened nutrition interventions and public health campaigns. In January this year, Indonesia launched a free nutrition meal program targeting students, pregnant women, and other vulnerable groups, aimed at improving malnutrition and stunting. The Ministry of Health also continues to promote scientific dietary knowledge through seminars, media, and podcasts, working to raise public health awareness—especially among youth. The government encourages the consumption of traditional local dishes like nasi pecel (rice with vegetables and peanut sauce) and gado-gado, which are rich in vegetables and far more nutritious than junk food.
In March last year, the Mexican government issued a ban as part of its “Healthy Living” initiative, prohibiting the sale and promotion of junk food in all schools nationwide. The regulation specifically bans high-sugar, high-fat, and high-salt ultra-processed foods, particularly those with black warning labels, such as sugary drinks, chips, and candy. Following the announcement, Mexico’s Ministry of Public Education posted on its social media: “Goodbye, junk food!” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also stated: “Eating bean tacos is much healthier than eating chips.”
Harmful to Both the Rich and the Poor Alike
While there is indeed a viewpoint in India that Western fast food and packaged foods are challenging the country’s traditional dietary structure, the fact remains that many traditional Indian foods themselves are already high in sugar, salt, and deep-fried ingredients.
In markets across New Delhi, it’s common to see local vendors using large, heavily used oil pots to fry snacks right on the roadside. These fried items are then drained and cooled in a large bamboo basket lined with a wire mesh, and simply packaged in ordinary, non-food-grade plastic bags for sale. In some cases, the plastic bags are sealed using a heated saw blade, which melts the plastic edges and releases unpleasant, toxic fumes. Reused cooking oil and cheap salt, sugar, and spices all pose serious health risks to Indian consumers.
According to market research by Nestlé, packaged foods in India tend to contain higher levels of sugar, salt, and fat compared to those in many other countries, and only about one-third of packaged food products on the market clearly display ingredient information. In contrast to countries like Mexico that now strictly regulate food labeling and advertising, India’s food oversight remains lax. As a result, unhealthy packaged foods are appearing on countless household dining tables without clear warnings about their health risks.
Indian consumers, on the whole, are more price-sensitive and less concerned about their right to information. However, India’s food regulatory authority recently announced new measures requiring sugar, salt, and saturated fat content to be displayed in bold or relatively large font on food labels. Some have proposed adopting a traffic light labeling system, with red, yellow, and green dots indicating unhealthy, moderately harmful, and healthy food options respectively, similar to approaches used in other countries.
This proposal has been widely welcomed, but implementing it requires localized adaptation. India, with its large vegetarian population, has long used green dots to signify vegetarian food and red dots for non-vegetarian items. Replacing these with health-level indicators could cause confusion.
According to Business Standard, India’s wealthier population tends to lead sedentary lifestyles and consume diets high in carbohydrates and fats. A walk through India’s cities reveals that most overweight individuals belong to the middle class—especially middle-class women. This trend aligns with a traditional belief in India that a “well-nourished” housewife symbolizes a family’s prosperity and dignity. In Hindu culture, the female head of the household is even regarded as the family’s “goddess of wealth.”
Notably, while Indian media focuses on the “junk food crisis,” many Indians still cannot afford what is considered junk food. A World Bank report from October last year showed that around 129 million people in India were living in extreme poverty in 2024, surviving on less than $3 a day. Roughly 60% of India’s population, comprising the relatively and extremely poor, live in rural areas, urban outskirts, or slums, and continue to face serious issues of malnutrition and food insecurity. When survival is the top priority, optimizing nutritional intake or accessing healthy, green foods remains far out of reach for them.
Data shows that one-third of the world’s malnourished children are from India, and half of India’s malnourished children are under the age of three and severely underweight. One of the primary causes of this malnutrition is economic inequality. Due to the low socioeconomic status of a portion of the population, their diets are often lacking in both quality and quantity. Malnourished women are also less likely to give birth to healthy babies. Before solving the fundamental issue of feeding its 1.4 billion people, India is already facing the “after-effects” of junk food. The country’s stark divide in wealth and dietary habits has resulted in a paradox where both the relatively affluent and the impoverished suffer from poor health.
Political Propaganda “Hijacks the Food Movement”
“Fast food chains become entangled in the ‘Sindoor Campaign’ debate,” reported New Delhi Television (NDTV). During India’s Monsoon Session of Parliament on July 28, as discussions turned to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated claims of having brokered the ceasefire during the India-Pakistan conflict in May this year, Congress MP Deepender Hooda declared: “Either shut up Donald (Trump), or shut down McDonald’s in India.” He emphasized: “Love and trade cannot be one-sided. The Indian government must take a firm stance to make the U.S. understand the power of the Indian market.” In response, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) mocked his statement, saying, “Even his own party leaders (referring to the Congress president present at the time) laughed at such absurd remarks.”
According to India Today, Hooda had targeted McDonald’s in his speeches as early as 2012, but his stance this time was a complete 180-degree reversal. Back then, he praised potatoes from Haryana state and even recommended them to McDonald’s, claiming local farmers could grow “24-inch-long potatoes” and urging the company to source them from the city of Ambala for French fries. The report pointed out that in Indian politics, metaphors and sentiments change constantly. Rather than genuinely addressing the fast food issue, these statements often reflect politicians’ fondness for wordplay.
This reminds us that some food-related health campaigns or regulatory measures launched in various countries may not truly aim to improve public health. During former President Trump’s second term, then-U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launched the campaign “Make America Healthy Again,” which claimed to address the country’s worsening health crisis by investigating food, drugs, and vaccines—especially targeting ultra-processed foods.
However, the campaign’s first report, released this May, immediately sparked controversy. U.S. media revealed that some of the references cited in what might become a guiding document for future U.S. health policy didn’t actually exist. Additionally, many links were broken, some studies were misinterpreted, and others had already been debunked.
As for specific actions, Kennedy ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to demand that companies voluntarily stop using six common food colorings. The FDA and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) also jointly announced a new scientific program focused on nutrition regulation.
Nevertheless, some food policy experts have warned that certain actions taken by the Trump administration are undermining efforts to regulate ultra-processed foods and address the chronic disease crisis. For example, earlier this year, Trump appointed several individuals to his cabinet who either support deregulation or have direct ties to the food industry. Another key measure to curb ultra-processed foods is ensuring that young people have access to fresh produce. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has cut funding for many previously approved programs, including those that paid farmers and ranchers to supply locally grown food to schools. In addition, the Department of Health and Human Services has laid off thousands of employees—at least one-third of whom were from the FDA.
Last month, The Guardian quoted Marion Nestle, Professor Emerita at New York University and author of Food Politics, as saying that in the United States, food issues are being used as a propaganda tool for certain budget-cutting agendas. This kind of messaging, she argued, has “hijacked the food movement” and may even push political agendas that run completely counter to public expectations.
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